Social interactions require quick perception, interpretation, and categorization of faces, with facial features offering cues to emotions, intentions, and traits. Importantly, reactions to faces depend not only on their features but also on their processing fluency, with disfluent faces suffering social devaluation. The current research used electrophysiological (EEG) and behavioral measures to explore at what processing stage and under what conditions emotional ambiguity is detected in the brain and how it influences trustworthiness judgments. Participants viewed male and female faces ranging from pure anger, through mixed expressions, to pure happiness. They categorized each face along the experimental dimension (happy vs. angry) or a control dimension (gender). In the emotion-categorization condition, mixed (ambiguous) expressions were classified relatively slower, and their trustworthiness was rated relatively lower. EEG analyses revealed that early brain responses are independent of the categorization condition, with pure faces evoking larger P1/N1 responses than mixed expressions. Some late (728- 880 ms) brain responses from central-parietal sites also were independent of the categorization condition and presumably reflect familiarity of the emotion categories, with pure expressions evoking larger central-parietal LPP amplitude than mixed expressions. Interestingly, other late responses were sensitive to both expressive features and categorization task, with ambiguous faces evoking a larger LPP amplitude in frontal-medial sites around 560-660 ms but only in the emotion categorization task. Critically, these late responses from the frontal-medial cluster correlated with the reduction in trustworthiness judgments. Overall, the results suggest that ambiguity detection involves late, top-down processes and that it influences important social impressions.AIM To observe the therapeutic effect of low-dose amitriptyline (AMT) on epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) in patients with functional dyspepsia. METHODS Sixty patients with EPS were randomly divided into the following two groups for a four-week clinical trial routine treatment with pantoprazole (RT group) and the AMT group. The RT group was treated with 40&nbsp;mg of pantoprazole once daily. The AMT group received 25&nbsp;mg of AMT once daily before bedtime. The Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) checklist, Hamilton Rating Scale of Anxiety/Depression (HAMA/HAMD), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were employed to evaluate dyspepsia symptoms, psychological distress, and sleep, respectively. RESULTS All items were similar between the two groups before treatment (0&nbsp;week). After 4&nbsp;weeks of treatment, the NDI-symptom checklist score as well as the severity and bothersomeness of EPS in the AMT group was significantly decreased compared with those in the RT group (p&nbsp; less then &nbsp;0.05). However, no differences were found in the frequency of NDI checklist, psychological status (HAMD/HAMA scores) of EPS, or sleep quality (PSQI score) between the two groups after treatment. In addition, the time to fall asleep was shorter in the AMT group compared with the RT group after 4&nbsp;weeks of treatment (p&nbsp; less then &nbsp;0.05). CONCLUSION Low-dose AMT effectively improved the dyspepsia symptoms and the time to fall asleep in the EPS patients, compared with pantoprazole, although it did not reduce the psychological distress. Therefore, AMT could be considered as a good candidate for EPS treatment in the clinic.BACKGROUND Eosinophilic esophagitis is an inflammatory condition in which eosinophil infiltration leads to esophageal remodeling and stricturing, with dilation therapy often needed. Achieving histologic remission reduces the need for repeat dilation, although little is known about the effects of long-term maintenance therapy. AIMS To further assess the relationship between short-term histologic remission and maintenance therapy on need for repeat dilation in eosinophilic esophagitis. METHODS A total of 77 patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (59.7% male; mean age 41.6&nbsp;years) seen at a single medical center from June 2000 to August 2017 were included. Information on history of dilation and therapy [proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), steroids, elimination diet] was collected. Mean follow-up was 164&nbsp;weeks. Fifty-one patients achieved histologic remission and 42 of these remained on maintenance therapy (23 PPIs, 14 topical steroids, and 5 dietary therapy). Standard phone interview was completed in cases with lack of follow-up. Only patients who underwent esophageal dilation to ??17&nbsp;mm were included. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/U0126.html RESULTS A significantly lower proportion of patients on maintenance therapy required repeat dilation (12/42) compared with patients not on maintenance therapy (8/9) (hazard ratio 0.12; p? less then ?0.001). Of patients who received maintenance therapy, 9.1% required re-dilation. The difference in need for repeat dilation in patients who achieved histologic remission on therapy (14/26) versus those who did not (20/51) was not significant (hazard ratio 1.34; p?=?0.45). CONCLUSION In a retrospective analysis of patients with eosinophilic esophagitis, we found that a significantly lower proportion who received maintenance therapy (PPIs, steroids, or dietary exclusions) required repeat dilation.BACKGROUND Several routes of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) administration are available for treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI), the most recent of which are capsules. AIM To assess the efficacy of colonoscopy, capsule, enema, and nasogastric tube (NGT) FMT for the treatment of recurrent CDI. METHODS We reported clinical outcomes of colonoscopy, capsule, enema, and NGT FMT for the treatment of recurrent CDI according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. During January 2000 to January 2018, three databases were searched PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL. Primary outcome was overall cure rate which was assessed using a random effects model; secondary outcomes included adverse effects as well as subgroup analyses comparing donor relationship, sample preparation, and study design. RESULTS Twenty-six studies (1309 patients) were included in the study. FMT was administered using colonoscopy in 16 studies (483 patients), NGT in five studies (149 patients), enema in four studies (360 patients), and capsules in four studies (301 patients).